Written by

Michael Doughty
mdoughty@gannett.com

A Caddo District Court judge's complaint that he has "run out of gas" is not a good enough reason for him to quit presiding over the first-degree murder case of a man accused of killing a Shreveport police officer, a Louisiana appellate court says.

The decision by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal cleared the way for jury selection to resume today in the trial of Christopher Brian Cope, 26, who is accused of fatally shooting Sgt. Tim Prunty, a 19-year veteran, outside a Circle K store at Dean Road at Bert Kouns Industrial Loop in October 2010.